TAFC - Etapa 53: Ray e Natalia crowned champions in Sorriso

TAFC got under way on Friday, 15 May 2026, in Sorriso - MT.

Three days and 25 matches later, the title went to Natalia e Ray, who lost before the semifinals, dropped into the repechage and won 3 matchups in a row to lift the trophy the long way round.

Areia Score tracked 25 matches play by play, logging 2,307 actions. Below: the full podium, the individual standouts and the numbers behind the tournament.

Friday: the TAFC qualifier

Day one belonged to the qualifier, the way into the main draw. Four duos came through: Bella e Mayara, Lane e Ana Luíza, Gabi e Luana and Carioca e Mirella.

Saturday: the main draw in Sorriso

The pro draw opened on 16 May 2026, with 16 duos. It runs as a double elimination: a loss drops you into the repechage with a way back, a win keeps you in the winners bracket.

Four duos went through the winners bracket unbeaten and booked a direct place in Sunday's quarterfinals: Amanda e Rafinha, Iza Dias e Rafa Ganzo, Natalia e Ray and Madu e Mari Cipriani.

Amanda e Rafinha beat Bella e Mayara 18 x 12 and Nuala e Emili 18 x 16.

Iza Dias e Rafa Ganzo beat Lane e Ana Luíza 18 x 7 and Josy e Vanessa 18 x 6.

Natalia e Ray beat Gabi e Luana 18 x 13 and Pamela e Mari Ciasca 18 x 11.

Madu e Mari Cipriani beat Carioca e Mirella 18 x 12 and Bia Rio e Lunna 18 x 14.

Saturday sent a big name down to the repechage too: Natalia e Ray lost to Madu e Mari Cipriani 18 x 16 and had no margin for error from there.

Sunday: the TAFC decider

The quarterfinals

Amanda e Rafinha v Iza Dias e Rafa Ganzo

Iza Dias e Rafa Ganzo beat Amanda e Rafinha 19 x 17.

Follow this one point by point on Areia Score.

Natalia e Ray v Madu e Mari Cipriani

Madu e Mari Cipriani beat Natalia e Ray 18 x 16.

Follow this one point by point on Areia Score.

The repechage quarterfinals

Amanda e Rafinha v Lane e Ana Luíza

Amanda e Rafinha beat Lane e Ana Luíza 18 x 15.

Follow this one point by point on Areia Score.

Natalia e Ray v Josy e Vanessa

Natalia e Ray beat Josy e Vanessa 18 x 11.

Follow this one point by point on Areia Score.

Into the 17 May 2026 decider, the four duos that reached the semifinals were Iza Dias e Rafa Ganzo and Madu e Mari Cipriani, through the winners bracket, and Natalia e Ray and Amanda e Rafinha, back from the repechage.

The semifinals

Iza Dias e Rafa Ganzo 0 x 2 Natalia e Ray

The opener went point for point, and Natalia e Ray edged it 20 x 18. Natalia e Ray backed it up in the second, 18 x 10, to close the matchup out.

Every game point by point on Areia Score: game 1, game 2.

Madu e Mari Cipriani v Amanda e Rafinha

Amanda e Rafinha beat Madu e Mari Cipriani 18 x 13.

Follow this one point by point on Areia Score.

Third-place match

Iza Dias e Rafa Ganzo beat Madu e Mari Cipriani 18 x 11.

Follow this one point by point on Areia Score.

The final

Natalia e Ray needed the deciding game to get past Amanda e Rafinha and took the matchup 2 to 1. Natalia e Ray started sharper and took the opener comfortably, 18 x 11. Amanda e Rafinha hit back hard in the second, 18 x 10, to level the matchup. It came down to the last game, and Natalia e Ray settled it 15 x 10.

Every game point by point on Areia Score: game 1, game 2, game 3.

Amanda led the scoring in the decider, with 15 attack points.

Natalia e Ray take the title.

The champions' run at TAFC

Natalia e Ray went through 6 matchups across the weekend and won the last 3 in a row. The full road, from the slip to the title:

• First round: beat Gabi e Luana 18 x 13
• Round of 16: beat Pamela e Mari Ciasca 18 x 11
• Quarterfinals: lost to Madu e Mari Cipriani 16 x 18
• Losers round 4: beat Josy e Vanessa 18 x 11
• Semifinals: beat Iza Dias e Rafa Ganzo 2 to 0 (20 x 18, 18 x 10)
• Final: beat Amanda e Rafinha 2 to 1 (18 x 11, 10 x 18, 15 x 10)

Podium

• 1º Ray e Natalia (+2,000 ranking points)
• 2º Rafinha e Amanda (+1,400 ranking points)
• 3º Iza e Rafa (+1,000 ranking points)
• 4º Madu e Mari (+800 ranking points)

Rafinha e Amanda finished as runners-up and Iza e Rafa completed the podium.

Individual standouts

Top scorer: Natalia, 59 attack points for Ray e Natalia.

Best conversion: Rafa Ganzo, 52.9% conversion (37 points from 70 attacks).

Top defender: Natalia, 79 defenses across 9 matches.

Foot points (shark): Vanessa, 5 points.

Head points: Natalia, 49 points.

The matches that mattered

Biggest comeback: Madu e Mari Cipriani came back from 5 points down to beat Carioca e Mirella 18 x 12, in the first round.

Longest match: Iza Dias e Rafa Ganzo 18 x 20 Natalia e Ray, 38 points played in total, in the semifinals.

Every team's stat line

Everything the scout logged per team: score, attack, defense, blocks and errors. Attack, defense, blocks and errors add up the whole squad and count only the matches that were scouted.

P = matches played, W = wins. Conversion is the ratio of attacks that scored to attacks attempted.

The tournament in numbers

• 25 matches analyzed
• 2,307 actions recorded
• 1,231 attack points
• 769 defenses
• 307 unforced errors
• Head attack: 378 points from 1,115 attempts (34%)
• Foot attack: 12 points from 26 attempts (46%)

The tournament wrapped up

Natalia e Ray take over the top of the ranking with 5,400 points, with Amanda e Rafinha right behind. Check the full ranking at: /en/ligas/lbf/duplas

The broadcast of this tournament has already reached 530,111 views on YouTube, across 4 videos.

Every match of TAFC is available with full point-by-point statistics on the tournament page.